You and that darn Randy are always bad. I thought you both showed up Tuesdays to be able to taste the experimental pizzas and have fun. Wish you could have gone along to NY. I am sure you would have liked the pizzas.

Kelly posted first he blew me a kiss, then posted if I didn't turn up the oven, he would have to come to Pa. to spank me. Men sure are changeable in a moments notice, just like pizzas! I have seen and experienced that before about men and their behaviors. Don't tell me you are also one of those men.

I had save the plain slice from Best Pizza and also a little part of the square slice. I was surprised when both were reheated last evening. The part of the square slice sure had a much different taste in the crust and was more light and airy than the plain slice. I preferred the part of the square slice in terms of taste and texture compared to the plain slice. I would think both types of pizza from Best Pizza would be made with the same dough, but I really don’t know. Included in the reheats a slice of clone MM was reheated also. It stayed very moist and the taste of the crust was very good. I don’t really know if the plain slice (Best Pizza) char on the bottom of the crust affected the taste of the crust, but it seemed to. The white slice I had when in NY tasted altogether different and it didn’t have the same char, but then it was fresh also. The plain slice, had a smaller rim than the white pizza I had tasted at Best Pizza.

A few more pictures when we were leaving NY in Manhattan and also in the Lincoln Tunnel for anyone that never was in Manhattan. These pictures were taken from my one daughters cell phone. The big buildings in Manhattan with all their lights on at nighttime are so beautiful.

scott123

Norma, I've spent some time researching the specs of your oven, and, after some consideration, I don't think it can do a fast baked pizza. At least not without some modification, and, since you don't own the oven, I don't think that's feasible. You might be able to modify it without altering the oven at all, perhaps by adding some sort of shelf that raises the pizza closer to the ceiling, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

The biggest potential achilles heel for bottom heat only gas ovens, as Kelly will fully attest to, because of his extensive LBE research/experience, is getting enough top heat going down onto the top of the pizza. You've got to have lot of BTUs coming up from the burner below and you've got to deflect/re-direct this massive heat up, around and down onto the pizza, masterfully. In your oven, the deflection/re-direction isn't too bad (it's the standard deflection for all commercial gas deck ovens), but the BTU output is far too weak to achieve really good top browning during shorter bakes.

Some gas decks will add a firebrick ceiling to add thermal mass and bolster the top heat, but, with your burner, it's still not going help much, and, like I said before, because you don't own the oven, welding in any kind of support for the firebricks is out of the question.

This all being said, I would still like you to be able to see, with the right oven setup, how easy it is to make a Best style pizza. Just because you can't hit their magic bake time at the market, doesn't mean you can't do it home. Could you refresh my memory on your home oven? Gas or electric? Peak temp?

Norma, I've spent some time researching the specs of your oven, and, after some consideration, I don't think it can do a fast baked pizza. At least not without some modification, and, since you don't own the oven, I don't think that's feasible. You might be able to modify it without altering the oven at all, perhaps by adding some sort of shelf that raises the pizza closer to the ceiling, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

The biggest potential achilles heel for bottom heat only gas ovens, as Kelly will fully attest to, because of his extensive LBE research/experience, is getting enough top heat going down onto the top of the pizza. You've got to have lot of BTUs coming up from the burner below and you've got to deflect/re-direct this massive heat up, around and down onto the pizza, masterfully. In your oven, the deflection/re-direction isn't too bad (it's the standard deflection for all commercial gas deck ovens), but the BTU output is far too weak to achieve really good top browning during shorter bakes.

Some gas decks will add a firebrick ceiling to add thermal mass and bolster the top heat, but, with your burner, it's still not going help much, and, like I said before, because you don't own the oven, welding in any kind of support for the firebricks is out of the question.

This all being said, I would still like you to be able to see, with the right oven setup, how easy it is to make a Best style pizza. Just because you can't hit their magic bake time at the market, doesn't mean you can't do it home. Could you refresh my memory on your home oven? Gas or electric? Peak temp?

Scott,

Thanks for researching about the specs of my deck oven. I can believe my oven isn’t designed to do fast bakes. I do own my deck oven though. All the equipment at my market stand was bought and paid for before I even started making pizza. I really don’t want to spend more money on my deck oven to modify it though. I saw the wood fired oven at Best Pizza and that dome is really low. I was really close to the wood fired oven and never saw anything like that before. I think Best Pizza does have an advantage in making their pizzas in that old oven.

You really don’t want to go into talking about my home oven. It is very old and it only gets to a little over 500 degrees F at its best temperature. It is really anemic. My home oven is electric. If you recall, I took your advise and bought some soapstone’s (3) for my home oven and for the convection oven I have at market. Those soapstone’s in my home oven or commercial convection oven at market never made a good pizza. They are just lying around in my kitchen waiting for someone that wants to try them.

Do you have an exact formulation in mind for someone that does want to make a Best Pizza at home? Steve’s home oven gets hotter than my oven. (550 degrees F) and he also has a WFO that maybe someday I could try a formulation for a Best Pizza bake.

When I returned home from NY on Wednesday, I took the two dough balls from Rizzo’s and just covered each one with aluminum foil and put them in a big plastic bag, and then into the freezer. I removed both dough balls from the freezer this morning, and coated them with olive oil, then put both of them into plastic containers, and back into the freezer they went.

I called Rizzo’s this morning, after they opened, and asked them how to go about using the dough balls to bake a pizza. I told the man I spoke to that I have a pizza stone, and asked him if I should bake on a pizza stone or in a steel pan. I had thought maybe they did bake in steel pans, because I saw some of the thin Sicilian rectangular slices in a steel pan in the bottom of their display case. The man I talked to said to bake the pizzas right on a stone. I asked what temperatures they bake their pizza at, and he said 550 degrees F. I also asked if they opened up their pizza dough by hand or rolled the dough out. He said they do roll their dough. The man said to get the super-thin crispy pizza like Rizzo’s the dough has to be flat. That makes sense because the really thin slice I ate at Rizzo’s was very crispy. I am not sure about how to go about shaping the rim though. Their rims are flat and very thin. If anyone has any ideas how to go about making a think flat rim, let me know. I think I am going to try one of Rizzo’s dough balls out for Tuesday and save one until next Tuesday. I told the man I talked to I would email Rizzo’s on how my pizza turned out, using their dough balls.

Happy Birthday, Norma! I loved the pictures of the Rizzo slices. They remind me of Grandma slices. Maybe they make them the same way, with a lot of oil.

RoadPizza,

Thanks for the Happy Birthday! It really isn’t until 12:00 am tonight our time. I am getting older by the day. Maybe too old to be fooling around with pizza so much. Medicare days now!

Thanks for saying you loved the pictures of the Rizzo slices. They say on Rizzo’s website that they are Sicilian pizzas, but really thin. http://rizzosfinepizza.com/ On their website if you click on reviews it says their pizza are ¼” thin, with a really crispy crust. I weighed both dough balls today, and by their weight for a 18” pizza they must be rolled very thin. I also wondered if they might be made in a steel pan with a lot of oil. Do you think I should try one dough in a steel pan with a lot of oil, to get the crispy bottom? I am a little confused how they get the think stand-up rim and crispy bottom, if they don’t use a pan.